Guardians
by Wicked Willow
Summary: The Scoobies and Angel Inc team up to save the world again in this world and beyond. Chapter 6 now up, please read and review.
1. Beginnings

Disclaimer: All the characters belong to Joss Whedon. I don't own them, so don't sue me. Also, some of my characters and settings later on will come from the Buffy books "The Gatekeeper Trilogy" by Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder.

Authors note: This is just the Prologue to a story I have had running around in my brain for a while now but don't know if I'm going to finish. Any feedback you have as to whether it's a plot worth pursuing would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

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Nothingness.

That's what surrounded Wesley when consciousness returned to his body. No, that wasn't right. The nothingness was true enough, a grey hazy blanket that oppressed his senses enveloped him, but his body wasn't his body, _at least not his mortal body_ he thought as he stared through his hand.

The last thing Wes remembered was being held by his Fred _no, Illyria_ as he died. He had failed his task of killing Vail, cut down with barely a thought. Illyria had come, held his hand and lied to him as he passed beyond the veil _no pun intended_ to this grey void.

No, not void. There was something _someone_ moving towards him. He stood, if such a thing could be called standing, and braced himself for a possible fight.

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On the Ghost Roads Joyce Summers felt the slight tremble that announced another soul was now wandering their paths. For a little more than three years she herself had wandered, waiting for her daughters, not wanting to leave them alone. She guarded them, protected them as much as she was able. Mere months after her own arrival, Buffy joined her and they spent several months together, guarding her friends and loved ones until they pulled her back into the world of the living.

But Joyce remained. She watched and guarded as best as she could. She ran into people she knew, people who knew her. Jenny Calendar, Tara McClay, Anya. Past slayers approached her, recognized her as the mother of the greatest slayer ever to live. They flocked to her for companionship and she became mother to an army of lost girls. Cordelia joined them, followed by a friend named Fred. Together they watched for, guarded against, and waited for the attack they knew would come, prepared to defend the living as the warrior women of the ghost roads…


	2. Awakenings

Disclaimer: All the characters belong to Joss Whedon. I don't own them, so don't sue me. Also, some of my characters and settings later on will come from the Buffy books "The Gatekeeper Trilogy" by Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder.

Authors note: Finally got a chance to continue this little story that I've been chasing around. Any feedback you have as to whether it's a plot worth pursuing would be greatly appreciated and positive comments will probably speed up the time between chapters. Thanks

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His head throbbed. His head throbbed and he couldn't quite remember why. He opened his eyes, then closed them quickly to keep the world from spinning crazily. He tried to sit up and groaned when a hand pushed him back down. He forced his eyes open again and blearily made out the shape of his favorite redhead.

"Shh, Angel just lay still. You've been through a lot, just try to rest, you're safe now."

"Where am I? What happened?" He tried to sit up again and she pushed him back, much more firmly this time.

"You need to lie down and relax Angel. Your body hasn't recovered from the translocation spell yet and if you don't give it a chance to you're going to end up injuring yourself more."

"Fine, I'll lay still if you will just tell me what's going on."

She smiled at him. "See, you're feeling better already, I can tell. You're in London, at a house that Giles owns as part of the new Watcher's Counsel. The Powers-that-Be decided it wasn't your time to go and sent Whistler to help us get you guys out of the mess you made."

"Whistler? Wait… us?" He turned his head and sure enough, there was Spike and Gunn. They were both still unconscious and Gunn had an oxygen mask over his mouth. Illyria was nowhere to be seen but that didn't necessarily mean anything. There were two girls standing watch by the door, slayers he figured, but other than that they were alone in the small infirmary. "Where's Buffy? Still in Italy?"

Willow's smile faded instantly. "You need to hear the rest of the story Angel. See, the Powers didn't interfere for your sake, from what I gather they had decided that you could sleep in the bed you made for yourselves. They helped me save you so that you could help us. Buffy's missing. Things are really bad this time Angel, really bad…"

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The form that approached him was a woman. A young, black woman with a swagger that reminded Wes of Faith.

"Excuse me," he croaked out through a surprisingly dry throat. The woman spun and crouched into a defensive position, apparently taken off guard by his presence. She squinted at him, the appeared to relax a notch.

"You're off the road."

He blinked at her dumbly. "Pardon me?"

"You're off the road. I didn't see you."

He stepped towards her and she eyed him warily. Suddenly the world cleared and solidified, still grey and colorless, but no longer hazy. Wesley was able to take a better look at the woman. She was tall and skinny with bellbottoms and a tight fro'. She appeared to be in her early 20's, the right age for a slayer.

"You need to move on. Whatever trauma you feel you need to resolve isn't important. Cross over now, it isn't safe here for you." She addressed him in a way that was preoccupied, as if he'd interrupted her from something important.

"Where are we?"

"The ghost roads. You died and your soul didn't cross all the way over, got stuck on the roads _to haunt for all time_ or some shit until you decided your issues aren't important enough to stick around for so you finish crossing. So why don't you just skip the middle part bub, cause it ain't safe for you here."

"Fascinating! I'd always thought the ghost roads were a myth, other than Giles, every one at the counsel always discounted their existence. However, I'm getting ahead of myself. My name is Wesley Windam-Pryce, former member of the Watchers Counsel, and your name is either Nikki Wood or Alexandra Harrington, although I'm betting the former."

She gaped at him, clearly startled that he knew her and what was going on. Within moments though her surprise was gone, replaced once more by slayer watchfulness.

"Great, just what we need, a stuffy-assed Watcher trying to tell us what to do. Just so you know, if it were up to me I'd leave you out here to rot, but my orders say otherwise so I guess you're coming with me. Better not slow me down though, the mission is what's important, not you."


	3. Musings

Disclaimer: All the characters belong to Joss Whedon. I don't own them, so don't sue me. Also, some of my characters and settings later on will come from the Buffy books "The Gatekeeper Trilogy" by Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder.

Authors note: Had a serious bought of writers block, but finally a third chapter. As always, any feedback you have as to whether it's a plot worth pursuing, or ideas about plot would be greatly appreciated and positive comments will probably speed up the time between chapters. Thanks

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"If this is heaven, why is there a bloody band marching through my brain?" Angel rolled his eyes as he and Willow turned to look at Spike's groaning form.

"Shut up Spike, you're not dead… Unfortunately" he muttered the last under his breath.

"Eh, I heard that mate. What's going on here anyway? And why's Charlie boy here all unconscious-like?"

Angel rolled his eyes again, eliciting a tiny giggle from Willow "Should you fill him in or should I", he asked, "Cause I'm not sure if I can take his attitude right now."

"I'll do it, why don't you see if you can get over to the kitchen, some blood would probably do you good right now. It's down the hall, second door on the right."

As Angel left the room Willow walked over to where Spike lay trying to push himself into a sitting position, just as Angel had done earlier. _Figures, _she thought, _like father like son, or childe I guess._

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"Where are you taking me?" Wes panted as Nikki stopped to get her bearings. "To the fortress. It's safer there."

"How much further?" he asked. They had been running for what seemed like hours. Though he occasionally saw glimpses that convinced him they were moving, his mind was constantly having trouble calculating how far they had actually run.

"It is around midday now; we should be able to make it by dark if we keep up our pace." As she said this she looked over at Wesley and he could have sworn that she was aiming the last part at him. _She'd be amazed at how fit I am now if she could have seen me in my Sunnydale days, _he thought, grimacing at the memory.

Instead he asked, "How can you even tell with all the clouds, or whatever they are?" She smiled, the first smile he'd seen out of her yet. "The light change is very subtle, it's not that much darker at night than it is now at midday. But when it's the only way to tell the passage of time, your eyes become sensitive to it."

"Well, we should go, get to this place of yours before dark. Looks like it might be dangerous out here when it's dark, and way more depressing than it is now, almost bad enough as it is." Moments before he could have sworn that he saw creatures moving in the fog that bordered the ghost roads.


	4. Dreamings

Disclaimer: All the characters belong to Joss Whedon. I don't own them, so don't sue me. Also, some of my characters and settings later on will come from the Buffy books "The Gatekeeper Trilogy" by Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder.

Authors note: This chapter is dedicated to the beautiful and talented Angelfan86, who keeps me inspired and motivated. As always, any feedback you have as to whether it's a plot worth pursuing, or ideas about plot would be greatly appreciated and positive comments will probably speed up the time between chapters. Thanks

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She was walking through what seemed to be a long hallway filled with doors. Part of her knew she was dreaming, but the slayer in Buffy knew that she needed to find out what this dream could tell her. She decided to open one of the doors at random, preparing herself for a possible fight. Though the door didn't have a handle of any kind that she could see, it swung open easily at her touch.

Giles and the rest of the gang sat in the library, sharpening stakes for some impending doom. When she tried to enter the room some force kept her in the hallway. She called out, but no one noticed her presence at the door. She stood looking in on her friends for several minutes, unable to decide if she should move on or continue to try and get into the library.

"We're not what you're looking for," Giles said to her. His voice sounded like it came from inside her head instead of from the room before her. "Go."

Before she had time to reply, the door slammed shut in her face and disappeared, along with the hallway and she woke up right where she had started.

Alone.

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Joyce Summers knew that something was wrong. The girls had been encountering things _trespassers _in their patrols more and more often lately. Lucy Hanover believed that it was probably someone trying to build and hide an army here that could be instantly sprung on the mortal world.

Which meant Buffy was in danger. Joyce knew that Buffy was almost always in trouble of some kind, but rarely did she have the chance to do something about it. But if the danger was here, on the ghost roads, then she believed it was her duty to do all she could to prevent Buffy from being hurt.

So she sent out patrols to monitor the growing army. They were to take extreme caution when approaching the creatures, for if your spirits astral body was killed while on the ghost roads your soul would be killed, would cease to exist. Sure, most of her girls were slayers and would hesitate to die twice for the cause if need be, but if a big fight was coming she would need all the "bodies" she could get. The first groups were supposed to be back today.

A while later Sarah knocked on the door. She was a sweet girl; her sister had been the slayer in the early 90's. She had been killed by a couple of vamps as a way to get to the slayer. She had stuck around the ghost roads to be near her sister, now they both helped the current slayers mother fight the forces of evil.

Joyce looked at the girl. She appeared to be about 12 years old; brown hair, long legs, glasses, and the cutest dimples. She smiled sweetly at Joyce as she came in and told her that one of the teams had returned.

Sarah followed her into the main chamber to hear the report from Alex's team. When Joyce entered the only people she could see was Jenny Calendar talking to Nikki. Neither Natasha nor Alex was present, although Nikki did have a man with her who looked vaguely familiar…


	5. Meetings

Disclaimer: All the characters belong to Joss Whedon. I don't own them, so don't sue me. Also, some of my characters and settings come from the Buffy books "The Gatekeeper Trilogy" by Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder.

Authors note: Finally got some momentum in writing this story, chapters should be coming faster now. As always, any feedback you have as to whether it's a plot worth pursuing, or ideas about plot would be greatly appreciated and positive comments will probably speed up the time between chapters. Thanks

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Angel stumbled his way into the kitchen, following the directions that Willow had given him. Along the way, he passed several slayers who looked him over suspiciously before nodding in his general direction. When he got to the kitchen, he was surprised to see Whistler and Kennedy playing a game of cards while Illyria stood watching them with a look or bored interest.

"Finally you have awakened," Illyria said to him curtly. "There is sustenance in that box for you to become ready to battle these foes I have been told about."

"That chick's been gunning for a fight ever since you guys got here; wish she would chill out a bit. I'm Kennedy, by the way, and you must be Angel." She got up to get Angel some blood from the fridge as he sat down wearily in one of the chairs.

"Nice to meet you. And thanks," he said as she handed him a mug of warm blood. He sighed as he took the drink, feeling the blood start to return his strength almost immediately.

"Nice to see you too buddy, and you're welcome about saving your ass and all." Whistler re-dealt and he and Kennedy started playing again.

"So isn't someone going to fill me in on what's going on?" Angel asked, ignoring Whistler's comment. The demon knew he was grateful, he just enjoyed trying to make Angel squirm.

"No need to be getting back on that white horse of yours quite yet Angel. There's a meeting later tonight to fill in everyone on the situation. Figured it would be easier to only have to go over it all once, when the entire chain of command is in one place. Till then I suggest you rest up, may be a while till you get another chance.

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The fortress Nikki took him to was indeed that; a fortress. From the outside it looked like everything else on the ghost roads; grey, shapeless, easy to miss if one didn't know what they were looking for. However, when Nikki opened the door and they stepped inside Wesley was surprised to see that the inside was very much like a real building with solid wood walls and even some color.

As Nikki led the way inside she explained to Wes that some of the witches among their number had found the place. They had discovered a way to tap into a part of the living world, and thus this building. The only way to access it was through the entrance from the ghost roads; no one could enter the place from the mortal world, though it existed there as well.

Wesley thought the building looked remarkably like one of the houses in London the counsel had used to house guests from time to time, but reasoned that that couldn't possibly be. As they stepped in a room that appeared to be a meeting chamber Nikki stopped. A girl of around 12 stood inside talking to a woman her vaguely recognized. As they entered, the woman sent the girl on an errand then came over to talk to Nikki.

"You're back early," she said to Nikki. "Who's this? And where are the others?"

"This is Wesley; he used to be a watcher. Wes, this is Jenny, one of the witches I told you about."

"Jenny Calendar? From Sunnydale?" At her surprised look he continued. "You were killed by Angelus, right?"

"How do you know that?" she asked, confused.

"I worked with Giles for a while; he spoke of you quite fondly."

"Giles?" She smiled and blushed faintly. "How is he?"

"Last I heard he was doing very well, he's in charge of the Watcher's Counsel now," he answered.

"Sorry to break up your little reunion," Nikki interrupted, "but I really need to speak to Joyce."

"I just sent Sarah to find her," Jenny replied. "What happened? Where are Alex and Natasha?"

"Dead," Nikki replied tersely.

As they spoke, Wes saw the girl return accompanied by an older woman. Thought he had never actually met her, it was obvious to him at once that the woman was Joyce Summers. Her resemblance to Buffy was uncanny. So she was the woman leading the army of dead slayers.


	6. Gatherings

Disclaimer: All the characters belong to Joss Whedon. I don't own them, so don't sue me. Also, some of my characters and settings come from the Buffy books "The Gatekeeper Trilogy" by Christopher Golden and Nancy Holder.

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There they were, facing off against legions of demons with the singular, burning desire to make them pay for what had been done to the Circle of the Black Thorn. Angel faced the oncoming horde flanked by Spike, Gunn, and Illyria. Angel knew that this was it; he and those that fought by his side were going to die here, in this cold, wet alleyway, to prove that they could not be controlled. As the mass of demons came nearer, Angel and the others prepared to fight.

The first wave hit him and he had no time to think, only to attack, to defend his life, and the lives of his friends. As he hacked and slashed with his magnificent sword, Angel could see Spike doing the same on his left. On his right Angel could see Gunn begin to go down, only to be rescued by an obviously furious Illyria. _Wesley's death must have hit her hard, _Angel thought, _to make her this pissed. Glad she's on our side._

Spike got his attention and as one they turned their attentions to the dragon hovering overhead. As one they came at the thing, Spike's sword finding purchase and tearing off one of the monster's enormous wings. Angel took the opportunity to drive his sword into the now injured dragon's right eye, burying the blade to the hilt into its brain. As it crashed down, dead, he looked around quickly for another weapon.

Then, all at once, everything seemed to pause. He felt something, some familiar presence watching them and turned to look. There, not ten feet behind him, looking ravishing amid the chaos, stood Buffy. She was dressed all in white, her long hair loose around her shoulders. He almost thought he could smell her perfume. She was giving off an ethereal light, both here and somewhere else at the same time. He breathed her name in a single instant. Buffy.

She seemed startled that he had seen her. Reaching out a hand to him, she spoke words that he just couldn't quite seem to hear. As he reached out to touch her everything around him sped up, the previously forgotten battle resuming. He again searched for a weapon, this time to keep Buffy safe as she stood defenseless inside the maelstrom.

That was when it happened. Suddenly Whistler appeared from no where, touching Gunn and Illyria, who both immediately disappeared. He started towards an unsuspecting Spike, touching him on the shoulder an instant before the vampire was decapitated with his own sword. Spike also disappeared, but with a slight blink rather than an explosion of ash. As Whistler turned toward him, Angel looked desperately at Buffy. The instant before Whistler whisked him away, he could clearly hear her say:

"Come back for me lover. I'm waiting for you…"

Though separated from each other by untold distances, two lovers woke as one.

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The meeting room was packed when Giles arrived ten minutes late for the meeting, cold tea in one hand and several books in the other. He could see at once that everyone was present. Willow, Kennedy, Xander, and Cassandra, his slayer, sat at a table chatting comfortably. Spike and Faith were in the back, hunched together as they smoked, appearing to be flirting. It was good that Faith seemed to be moving on after Robin broke it off with her two weeks ago. Whistler, Gunn and Illyria were scattered around the room, with Andrew trying to appear as if he wasn't staring openly at the demon. And of course everyone was trying to hide the looks they sent at Angel as he paced back and forth in the front of the room.

As Giles entered the room and sat his things on one of the tables everyone looked at him expectantly. Even Angel stopped his pacing and sat down in one of the chairs.

"Thank you all for coming," he said unsure of how to begin. Angel made that easy for him.

"Giles. Where's Buffy?" Angel asked bluntly, his concern for the blond slayer noticeable.

"We… we don't know. All we know is that she's still alive and doesn't appear to be in this dimension. Unfortunately we seem to have bigger problems than just Buffy's disappearance. It seems that the Immortal has teamed up with Wolfram and Hart's Senior Partners to take over this dimension. Your little coup really pissed them off I'd wager. Anyway, they appear to be holding Buffy to split our attention while they raise an army to wipe out humanity."

"Wow, must really suck to be us right now," Xander pointer out drolly. Cassandra gave her watcher a light smack on the arm and a look suggestion he hush.

"Boy's right," Spike said, putting out his smoke. "So what are we gonna do about it?"

"It seems this army is being compiled on the Ghost Roads. Whistler here was sent by the Powers to be of assistance. Spike, Faith, Willow, and Whistler will be traveling to Boston, to the Gatekeeper's house, to attempt to access the Roads from there."

"Wicked," Faith replied, "road trip."

"The rest of us will remain here to see if we can locate Buffy. Xander and Kennedy, you are still in charge of training the girls, the need to be ready when this storm hits. The plane to Boston leaves in a couple hours, you should all go pack."

As the meeting broke up, Andrew went over to Giles and finally got him to relent to letting him take Illyria to go train with the slayers. Giles was happy to have the boy out of his hair for a while. When he turned to leave he noticed Angel still sitting in the otherwise empty room. He was surprised to realize he hadn't heard a peep out of the vampire since the beginning of the meeting.

"I saw her Giles. She was in my dream. Calling out for me to come rescue her. We have to find her before its too late." Angel ran a hand through his hair, obviously edgy.

"In a dream? It has happened before, but are you sure she was really there?" Giles sat back down, cleaning his glasses.

"I'm sure it was her. I could sense her just as much as I can sense you in this room with me. It was her Giles, and we have to find a way to get to her."

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I've finally picked up some steam on this story… shouldn't be as long between chapters now. Please let me know what you think so far, both good and bad, so that I can make adjustments as necessary. Thanks bunches to everyone.


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